It was one of the largest Regional Championships China has seen last weekend, as nearly 250 players traveled to Shanghai to compete at the MTG China Open that also served as the seventh Regional Championship for the area. And what a Championship it was, as seven different Pioneer decks made the Top 8 and an astounding 13 different decks graced the Top 16 ranks.

It was undoubtedly a showcase of the format sans Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord and Amalia Benavides Aguirre. While Izzet Phoenix remained as the best holdover, it was far from dominant in China–in fact it put only one player into the Top 8: Lee Gongxc. Through it all, Chun Him To expertly piloted what is one of the most unique decks in all of Pioneer–and one that's undergone a huge makeover since the release of Duskmourn.

With Pro Tour invites going out to everyone in the Top 8 and the winner of the event earning their place at next year's World Championship, there was a lot riding on the nine rounds of Swiss players battled through to advance to the Top 8. In the end it came down to Chun Him To's Enigmatic Incarnation brew featuring a mind-blowing 28 copies of Duskmourn cards that have completely reshaped the archetype, facing off against Shen Yang and the Jund Sacrifice deck that had found so much success in Brazil at the weekend's other Regional Championship.

Chun Him To faced off against Shen Yang in the finals of the MTG China Open and earned the title of Regional Champion with a new build of Enigmatic Incarnation featuring dozens of copies of Duskmourn cards.

There was never a doubt; Chun Him To swept both games to wrap up a one-loss weekend that saw him go 21-7-1 in games played en route to earning the title of Regional Champion and the World Championship invite that goes along with it.

His path there was anything but easy, though–To played 12 rounds of Pioneer and only faced the same deck twice in that span. His only loss came to Four-Color Enchantments in the third round, and from that point on To didn't drop another match.

Congratulations to Chun Him To, the latest Regional Champion!

Congratulations to the Top 8

All eight players who advanced to the elimination rounds earned invitations to the Pro Tour! Congratulations to the Top 8 players, who each qualified with an unique deck.

• Chun Him To (Enigmatic Incarnation)
• Lee Gongxu (Izzet Phoenix)
• Shen Yang (Jund Sacrifice)
• Li Jun (Selesnya Angels)
• Han Bing (Azorius Control)
• Yuchen Liu (Rakdos Prowess)
• Fu Yu (Izzet Phoenix)
• Li Wenbo (Five-Color Niv-Mizzet)

That's a stacked Top 8; Fu Yu won the Regional Championship in October last year, and Yuchen Liu made the Top 8 of the one in Guangzhou earlier this year–not to mention a Top Finish at Pro Tour Aether Revolt back in 2017.

As the Regional Championship circuit has aged, we're seeing a steady mix of both newcomers and RC endbosses emerge at the regular gathering of the region's best players to compete in a tournament that comes with big stakes but also big celebrations as communities come together. That brought out the diverse field that powered a picture-perfect day of competitive Magic and now fulfills the Pro Tour dreams of another set of new faces.

You can find all the Top 8 decklists here.

Pioneer Opens Up

Since Amalia Benavides Aguirre and Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord were banned in Pioneer, things have been wide open. There's a huge push of course to play with Treasure Cruise in Izzet Phoenix—"you have to play with it while you still can" is how one MTG China Top 8 competitor put it—but as the wide Top 16 at the MTG China Open shows us, there's a long way to go still to figure this thing out.

We saw not just different decks, but wholly disparate strategies find success. That includes the classic Phoenix in the hands of Fu Yu, to Han Bing's Azorius Control, to Yuchen Liu's Rakdos spin on a Prowess deck, to the hyper-aggro Boros Convoke to even the midrange Selesnya Angels. All in all, anything could find success at the Regional Championship.

Duskmourn was the biggest story. The winning decklist included the Duskmourn cycle of lands like Gloomlake Verge, and jammed 13 total Overlords, with Overlord of the Hauntwoods, Overlord of the Floodpits, and Overlord of the Mistmoors all checking in as four-ofs. Even Nowhere to Run turned up. It's clear that players are just beginning to get their decks around what the Overlord cycle can do, but the results from the MTG China Open show what's possible.

Congratulations again to everyone who participated at the MTG China Open! This is only the first Regional Championship cycle that will feed the 2025 World Championship, so there's still opportunities left for anyone looking to join the newest Regional Champion there.

Find out more about how you can qualify for the Regional Championship and the Pro Tour by visiting here and finding out more from your regional organizer!